Earth Abides

by George R. Stewart

A disease of unparalleled destructive force has sprung up almost simultaneously in every corner of the globe, all but destroying the human race. One survivor, strangely immune to the effects of the epidemic, ventures forward to experience a world without man. What he ultimately discovers will prove far more astonishing than anything he'd either dreaded or hoped for.

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2 comments

Anonymous | 2014-10-10 06:47:32

Earth Abides (1949) is not the first of it's kind (Last Man, Mary Shelley, 1826), but it predates I am Legend (1954) and A Canticle for Leibowitz (1960) and really sets the stage for a disease-borne apocalypse, the fading of technology for survivors, and the step-by-step loss of the foundations of civilization. Every post-apocalyptic book or film published since 1949 finds a source in Earth Abides. No zombies, but the idea of having to deal with infected people is seeded. Well written, thoughtful, and thorough.

Anonymous | 2015-03-09 08:27:14

One of the first dystopian fiction books I read, still one of my favorites. A believable story of the end of civilization.